Adventure Blog

I spent the first week of August in Belize on the small, laid-back island of Caye Caulker. We then took a water taxi and car to Tulum, Mexico, where we weathered Tropical Storm Franklin. Mid-August, we headed up to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and then to the French half of the island of Saint-Martin.

I diverged a little from my art of the past year to do some whimsical "reverse mermaid" paintings. I enjoyed envisioning these fish men just out of reach of water, and the freedom they gave me to use wild colors and fun patterns. I completed a series of six, and consider myself finished with the concept for now - but of course I reserve the right to imagine more of these guys in the future. :-)

It was a good month with a lot of relocating and eleven paintings completed. It's often difficult to maintain my momentum when I'm having to pack and unpack so much, but I overcame in this instance.

I will return to the U.S. on September 3, visiting Tucson, Arizona. My online shop will reopen for business on September 1. I hope to be shipping a lot of packages out on September 4!

A 30-minute water taxi ride was all it took to go from La Isla Bonita to La Isla Cariñosa, better known as Caye Caulker or Caye Corker. Aaron and I disembarked, headed up the dock, and grabbed a taxi to take us to our Airbnb.

This was no ordinary taxi, though. The only motorized vehicles navigating the sandy streets of Caye Caulker are golf carts. We even spotted a shop selling rims for these little open-air chariots.

The mantra of Caye Caulker is "Go Slow." I have to admit, I thought the slight downshift was pleasant compared to the exhaust fumes and maniacal drivers in San Pedro.

Sunset along Caye Caulker's west side

Caye Caulker is very walkable, with most things around a mile in any direction. This was good since, as we have found with many things elsewhere in Belize, the bikes that our Airbnb provided were in far less than prime condition. After our first experience with flat tires, slipping chains, and a bike lock that didn't work, we decided that our feet were as good or better than wheels.

Similar to San Pedro, there are basically three north-south streets in Caye Caulker. Also similar, "Front" street (closest to the reef, or east side) was the most populated and tourist-oriented route. The restaurants and shops to the west seem to have more reasonable prices and less frills.

Caye Caulker street scene

In some ways, Caye Caulker seemed to be slightly cheaper than San Pedro. Snorkeling tours were as little as $30US per person, and you could get a big, delicious, filling-stuffed fry jack at Errolyn's for only $1.50US. However, the Banana Factor was the lowest thus far, with a purchasing power of just 4 bananas for 50 cents US.

We stayed at "Gumbo Limbo," located just one lot back from the beach on the reef side of the island, but the water near us was tainted with smelly seaweed that our host said was a recent appearance. The view was pretty, if you held your nose. :-/

Caye Caulker's Front Street at night

The far north side of the island had the best spot for enjoying the water, at a beautiful area called The Split, where there is a narrow channel separating Caye Caulker from North Caye Caulker. The Split has a sea wall with stairs leading down to clear, blue-green water, a high-dive, several bars and restaurants, and no stinky seaweed. I even braved the high-dive once... fun, but one time was definitely enough for me.

Night time on Caye Caulker was relatively lively, with the streets lit up and people out strolling. Vendors sold burritos, pupusas, tostadas, salbutes, and other treats for reasonable prices. Who needs Taco Bell when you can get a big, fresh handmade burrito for $1.50US?

Belize's ongoing "charm" of things being broken, half-functional, held together with string and masking tape is wearing a bit thin. The water taxi here has a route that goes directly to Mexico, so we decided to head to Tulum and points north for a while. We may return to Belize in a bit... time will tell!

From Punta Gorda, Aaron and I took off in a tiny 12-passenger Maya Island Air plane. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the airport, which was around the size of a small one-car detached garage back home. I sarcastically said that I bet they had wifi... but they actually did. The place was a one-man show, but that man was doing a great job running all facets of the operation. No security, moving sidewalks, baggage handlers, bars, restaurants, shops, or other amenities here. I will say, though, that it seemed far more efficient in many ways than the larger configurations in the U.S.

Golf carts in San Pedro

Our flight was due to leave at 11:40 a.m., and around that time, the plane landed, we boarded, and were off in a matter of minutes. We made a quick stop in Dangriga, where we picked up some more passengers, dropped some people off at Belize City International Airport, and had a short layover at Belize City Municipal Airport.

We boarded our second plane, returned to Belize City International to pick up some more passengers, and took off across the clear turquoise Caribbean waters. A few minutes later, we landed at San Pedro Airport and rode a taxi to our new abode on La Isla Bonita.

Yes, that's right. When Madonna sang, "Last night I dreamt of San Pedro..." in La Isla Bonita, she was referring to this place. They embrace the moniker, and it appears all over San Pedro town on businesses, hotels, and even trash cans.

Nurse sharks at Shark Ray Alley

I wasn't sure what to expect from the town of San Pedro. I knew it was the tourism mecca of Belize, where most everyone goes who visits this tiny country. That had given me the impression that it would be more polished and less authentic. I was pleasantly surprised to find that to be far from the case. After nearly a week on the island, the only familiar company name I've seen was far north of the town, at a Wyndham development.

While there are full-sized cars on San Pedro and Ambergris Caye (the name of the island that the town inhabits), the primary method of transport for most passengers is golf carts. Constant traffic, gasoline fumes, and noise result from these little carriages. I don't know what the hurry is, but everyone certainly seems to be in one, and I'm surprised I didn't see any accidents from this giant bumper-car experiment.

San Pedro Cemetery at sunset - not a bad view for eternity

Ambergris Caye is a short distance from the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world and probably Belize's biggest claim to fame. On the island's east side, you can see waves breaking on the reef a ways out from shore, across the beautiful blue-green water.

We had been warned that San Pedro was pricey, but we found if you worked at it a bit, you could manage pretty reasonably. Aaron and I continued our diet of mostly beans and rice, and enjoyed a couple times out at restaurants, too. However, it had the most expensive Banana Factor to date, at a cost of 5 bananas for $1 Belize.

Snorkeling turned out to be far less expensive from San Pedro than we had been seeing on the mainland, and we booked a trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley for less than $40US per person. We've snorkeled a few other places in the Caribbean, but this was definitely the most impressive variety of sea life I've seen.

Me, enjoying Secret Beach

I got a huge blister from my flip flops a few days in, which meant it must be time to rent our own golf cart. We found a reasonable place to rent one and found it to be a great way to see more of the island than we would have seen otherwise, including a long and bumpy ride out to Secret Beach, which was a beautiful calm expanse of clear, shallow, blue water. Aaron nearly lost a shoe when it vibrated out of the cart on the way back, but thankfully we back-tracked and located it.

We had heard that theft was a big problem before leaving for Belize. Until San Pedro, we hadn't been the victim of theft or any other crime, or even an unkind word. One afternoon, we stopped at an El Salvadoran pupuseria for some amazing pupusas. When we got back, we were one beach towel lighter. As they belonged to our Airbnb, we ended up paying $15US for this incident. I think we'll live. :-)

Our next destination is Caye Caulker, a smaller island south of Ambergris Caye. The locals in San Pedro all say that Caye Caulker is what San Pedro was like twenty years ago, with sandy unpaved streets and a slower pace.

July was my first full month in Belize. Aaron and I started out in Hopkins, then spent two weeks in Placencia, traveled to the country's southernmost civilization (and the end of paved roads) in Punta Gorda, and then flew to San Pedro, a.k.a. La Isla Bonita.

Despite being in four different locations, I managed to be relatively prolific, painting nine pieces. The pace of life in Belize is generally slow, and that helps. My work bounced around a bit, from Belize-inspired to pieces reaching back to my travels in the U.S. I certainly have a large stock of inspiration after 9+ months of being a nomad.

Feel free to e-mail me to be added to a list to be notified when artwork is available again (a.k.a. when I return to the U.S.).